TRP: Jasper and Raef (Life Debt)
WORD COUNT: 2668 February 7, 2019 Mink: at 6:01 PM Pre-Campaign Setting: The woods outside if Skyport. Raef ran his hands over his face, groaning. He was exhausted and the city was still out of reach, at least for that night. The sun was beginning to set and he knew he needed to find a place to camp out; he didn't care for the idea of camping out on the road. There were a variety of monsters and animals that lived in the woods. Being out in the open was a dangerous, and stupid, idea. Shit. He scratched the back of his head. What - He was snapped from his thoughts as he rounded a bend and a broken wagon greeted him. His hand dropped to the hilt of his rapier as he continued forward, looking over the wreckage. He circled around until he came to an area where grass and bushes were flattened down, leading out into the woods. This was a fucking stupid idea and he knew that, but something - or someone - had been dragged out into the trees and the sky was darkening. “Fuck,” he growled out, unable to believe himself as he followed the forcefully made trail. All he wanted to do was get to Skyport, but here he was, fucking going into the dark woods he knew little about. If he fucking died he was going to be pissed. Coyote: at 6:10 PM Jasper awoke slowly and painfully. Her side throbbed from where she'd been stabbed, but it was covered by... thick spiderweb now, stopping the bleeding and keeping her alive. Oh. Neat. Then she realized her entire body was covered in thick spiderweb, and she was hanging upside down in the forest, and she thought: Oh. Less neat. She squinted, fighting to see through the dark. Fucking human eyes. Why couldn't she be a fucking tieflings? Tieflings were so cool. So much better than humans. God, though. She'd never fucking say that in front of Abel or Amethyst. They'd never let her live it down. This was normally the kind've situation Abel would get her out of, but.... Abel wasn't here with her on this one. No one was here with her on this one. Fuck. She managed to make out a few faint details of the situation around her. The other members of the caravan-- slavers, all of them-- were similarly bound up. Most of them were still alive and wriggling. Some of them were deathly still. She was one of.... about nine people, it looked like. Three spiders she could make out. Maybe more, though. Lots of webs around her. Too many for just three. Mink: at 6:25 PM Spiders. Raef's nose wrinkled as he crouched, reaching out to touch the remnants of webbing. They were one of the last things he had wanted to meet out here. He shifted his bag so it was behind him, out of the way of his hands. He pulled out one dagger and he lowered himself further. He didn't know how many spiders there were and he was hoping to not find out. Soon he was able to make out several bodies hanging from the web covered trees and he could hear the clicking of pincers, a sound that made the hair on the back of his neck prick. Three spiders were visible and that could be a doable number, but there were too many webs for that few. That made this more dangerous than he wanted it to be. He could maybe take out three, but it was a risk. Raef hefted his dagger and he moved behind a tree, using the shadows to conceal his movements as he tried to count how many people were still alive. If any could fight this made it easier. If not... He tapped the blade of his dagger on the palm of his hand as he crouched. He watched a spider skitter by before he stepped around the tree to assess the body closest to him. "Not dying?" If they were dying there was nothing he could do. He needed to focus on the living and this woman had her eyes open. Coyote: at 6:35 PM Oh hey, Jasper thought. Fucking neat. A random elf guy was here. For a split second, in her drug-induced haze, she thought: Hey, Ba'ob got real fucking fancy. And older. And also less covered in dirt. Then she squinted closer at him and thought, Ah. Not Ba'ob. Sad. She liked Ba'ob. Where the fuck was her Ba'ob. Ba'ob would save her from spiders, right? She blinked rapidly at him, trying to signal: Yep, alive, just can't talk with a mouthful of spider shit. She jerked her head down to where her sword lay on the ground; it must've fallen off when they were injecting her with shit, she guessed. Mink: at 6:43 PM Raef gave a bare smile at her response and glanced to the sword. That was as good as her response: she was a fighter. He stepped back against the tree as a spider skittered - that fucking sound - again. He held his breath as he waited, but the sound didn't grow closer. He looked over the tree to find handholds before he dragged himself up, using the webbing to help grip though he knew better than to press close to it. He wasn't going to become a snack like the others. Once he had positioned himself, he hung down with his legs over a branch and he sliced at the silk holding the young woman to the tree. Dropping her was step one. Cutting her loose was step two and not dying was step three. Coyote: at 7:00 PM Damn, this guy was cool. Jasper was about thirty seconds into this midnight rescue mission, she was high as fuck off spider venom, and she loved this dude already. So great. How cute were his, like, pointy ears and shit? And his daggers. And hanging out of trees and stuff. Io. Precious. Jasper needed more elves. She liked elves. Then she hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Okay. She loved elves, like. Five percent less now. But still. Mink: at 7:05 PM Raef winced as she hit the ground. He would have tried to ease her fall, but it wasn't very far and she was big. He reached up so he could lower himself down on his feet. "You're going to fucking run, got it?" he hissed out as he freed her hands and legs. "Back to the road." He glanced up as he heard the spiders creeping closer. Of course they would know when their meal was making an escape. Coyote: at 7:09 PM "Haha. What? Why?" Jasper said. Her voice was slurred and weak. She clutched the stab wound in her side. "Nah, nah. Gotta, uh... fucking... slavers... gonna kill 'em... spiders now, too..." Mink: at 7:11 PM Raef stared. "The spiders'll take care of them." Did she really want to go after them when she could barely talk and was obviously injured? He looked her over briefly before he grabbed her wrist to try to coax her to her feet. "You can't even talk." Coyote: at 7:13 PM Jasper squinted at him harder. "You're not Ba'ob," she grumbled under her breath. "Don't fuckin... tell me how to... t... talk... 'en... shit." Mink: at 7:16 PM "Uh-huh." They didn't have time for this. He glanced about them, eyeing the spiders that were a lot fucking closer than they had been. He turned his dagger in his hand before he flung it at the nearest one. "I bet you you can't fucking see, though." Coyote: at 7:22 PM "Oh, fuck off. God, you're so precious. Fuck off, though. Fucking human. Yeah. Not tiefling." Jasper grabbed her sword, staggering a little as she tried to heft it. Mink: at 7:27 PM Raef nearly pinched the brim of his nose. If it wasn't such a serious situation, he would have laughed. She had some serious...nerves or whatever. "Unless you can lift that thing, you're going to drag your ass to the road and I'll keep an eye on the damn spiders." Coyote: at 7:32 PM "I can lift this thing," Jasper muttered. "This is my thing. I'm... motherfuckin'... Jas... Jas... per... Mel... wait... Wi--" And then, suddenly, her legs felt weak. The last thing she remembered was her body falling out from under her; she crumpled onto the ground, and she was gone. Mink: at 7:43 PM He could have left her - should have left her . He had told her to get moving and she just balked and bitched, but...he sighed. She had something and he wasn't going to let her die. Especially not by becoming a meal. "Goddamnit." Raef bent his knees and grabbed beneath Jasper's arms. He pushed down with his feet. Fuck. He didn't know how he did it, how he dragged her back towards the road. All he knew was that he watched any spiders and scared of the ones that looked at them like they were going to be an easy meal. By the time he got them somewhere away from the webs and the threat was less imminent, he was covered in sweat and he felt like he was breathing acid with every inhale. He dropped Jasper unceremoniously on the ground and he swiftly started a fire to chase off any beasts. Only once he was sure they wouldn't be chomped immediately did he turn his attention back to Jasper. Shr was brave, strong, and stupid. She was probably awesome when she wasn't dying. Raef rifled through his pack before he removed the webbing at Jasoer's side. She had held it and he needed to see how bad it was. He pushed up her shirt to get better access and set about bandaging the wound. She didn't need to develop an infection on top of the venom and exhaustion.(edited) Coyote: at 7:55 PM Jasper stirred awake. There were twigs stuck in her clothes, and she felt like she'd been dragged along rocks. Buncha fuckin' scrapes on her back and shit. Stung. Fuck. "Motherfuckin' spiders fuckin' dragging me places," she groaned. "Let me die already, god." Mink: at 7:58 PM "Last I checked I was a precious elf," Raef replied with a soft snort of laughter as he double-checked the bandage. He wasn't a healer so it was the best he could do. "After I dragged you out here you'd better not fucking die."(edited) Coyote: at 8:02 PM "Motherfucking precious forest elves," Jasper sniffled. She missed Ba'ob. "God I love you. You're so great, man. You're my best friend. What's your name?" Mink: at 8:09 PM "You've your elves mixed up." He chuckled as he dropped to sit on the ground, propping his arms on his knees. "Raef." Best friend? Precious? I love you? He liked her. "What the hell were doing out here, Motherfuckin'-Jasper-Mel-Wait?" he asked, watching her even as he listened over movements other than their own. They would likely be fine, but the caravan had probably thought the same thing. Coyote: at 8:11 PM "God, that's a good name. Jasper Melwait. I oughta use that. No, my name's Jasper Wild already. Shit. Fuck." Jasper groaned pitifully. "I need water. Gimme water, Raef. Cuz we're friends and shit." Mink: at 8:15 PM "When you decide on a name, let me know." Raef opened his pack to find his waterskin. He handed it over. "How 'bout answering my question? Since we're friends and shit?" Coyote: at 8:19 PM "How long ago did I meet you? How long was, uh, I out?" Mink: at 8:24 PM "A couple of hours?" He didn't know. He hadn't been attention as he dragged her. He had been more focused on not falling over and not becoming spider food than he had the time. He didn't think it mattered; she was evading the question. Raef shrugged. "Maybe less." He stretched out his legs and rested back on his hands. "How long were you hanging?" Coyote: at 8:27 PM "Then we've been friends for a couple hours," Jasper informed him, figuring he ought to know. "I decided. When you cut me down. Uh, I don't fuckin' know how long I was hanging. Figure I was probably unconscious for it? Hey, all those people who go left behind-- they dead, you figure? I oughta go kill them." Mink: at 8:30 PM Raef smiled at the proclamation. Yeah, he liked her. "Probably. If they're not, they will be soon. It was a nest of those things." Spiders. Az was the one who dealt with those....or had been. "How do you feel?" Coyote: at 8:33 PM "Amazing. Not dead. How come you're out in the middle of the woods tracking down spiders, weirdo?" Mink: at 8:36 PM "Had to make sure you were all dead." He smiled in what he hoped was a joking manner. "I was heading to Skyport when I saw the wagon." He shrugged. "You still haven't told me why you're out here." Coyote: at 8:43 PM "“Oh, man. Listen, it’s a great story,” Jasper said. “I got this brother. And I found these slavers, right? He and I work together a lot. And I said, Abel—that’s my brother’s name, his name is Abel—I said, Abel, I found these slavers on the road, they kidnapped like three people. Let’s go kill them and take their stuff and free the slaves. And Abel said, Well, who’s paying us? And I said, What do you mean, who’s paying us? Nobody’s paying us, Abel, we just gotta go free slaves and kill slavers in the name of Iomedae. And then Abel said that was dumb and he wasn’t fucking doing a job unless someone paid and he was going out to get a drink, and he said I better not fucking go on my own because I’d die. And then I thought, well, I’ll fucking show him.” Jasper sat up. “Anyway, so I get this great idea. Amazing idea. I figured, hey, I’d get kidnapped by slavers, and then I’d pick the locks and free the slaves at night while everyone else was asleep. Fuck Abel, right? I don’t need no fucking brother. So I let the slavers catch me. Fucking brilliant, right? And it working amazingly, I freed, like, all the slaves.” She scratched her head. “But then, uh, before I managed to escape with them, the slaves caught me… and they were real pissed…” She winced. “And then when I was fighting them on the road, one of them stabbed me and I blacked out.” She twisted around to look around. “Guess they got attacked by spiders while I was unconscious,” she commented. “Neat.” Mink: at 8:50 PM That was...fucking noble. It was also not what he was expecting. No one willingly went by themselves to take on a few slavers and free the slavers. Except for the young woman in front of him, who looked like she had seen better days. "You're something else." He chuckled and took back his waterskin so he could take a sip before he looked through his pack to find something to snack on. He was as hungry as he was tired. He chuckled a bag of granola at her. "We'll go find your brother in the morning and show him he was wrong." Coyote: at 8:54 PM Jasper caught the bag. She broke into an enormous grin. "See? I told you we were friends." She stuffed a handful into her mouth. "Hey. Thanks for, uh, saving my life, or whatever." Mink: at 8:58 PM "You're welcome." He smiled as he opened his last bag of granola; it was a good thing civilization wasn't too far away. "Just make sure to stay alive. Can't drag you twice."(edited) Mink: at 9:14 PM Jasper frees some slaves, gets captured by spiders, and Raef saves her. Coyote: at 10:00 PM Title: Jasper and Raef (Life Debt).(edited) Category:Text Roleplay